Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells

27 reviews

lorraine19's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I wasn't overly thrilled with this story - it wasn't awful, but kinda boring to me. 

If you're not a fan of HG Wells then you may be turned off by the writing style because this is definitely in his usual, somewhat dry, style. It also covers a dark aspect of humanity, like most of his work, so don't expect a happy read. As someone who has read some Wells stories before, I found War of the Worlds (which I recommend to anyone reading Wells for the first time) much more entertaining. It just kinda felt like this one was trying too hard to be deep but didn't really go anywhere or state anything that hasn't been said a hundred times before. 

That being said, this may be more appealing to those with a strong interest in biology or philosophy that examines what it means to be human vs animal. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Alcoholism, Violence, and Alcohol

Animal vivisection, some outdated language/slurs

devermismysteris's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

gasoline_allie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Better and MUCH creepier than I expected.  There are so many trigger warnings that apply and are worth looking into before reading, but I'm glad I went in mostly blind.  The concept of exploration and experimentation without ethics remains relevant, as does the question of what it means to be human and how we relate to the natural world. I thought the different ways Prendick and Montgomery interacted with Moreau's creations and Moreau himself was subtly done and interesting.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Racism and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Alcoholism and Cannibalism

asphodelrose7's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Blood, and Stalking

Minor: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

irene_addler's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

 "But there are times when the little cloud spreads, until it obscures the whole sky. Then I look about me at my fellow men, and I go in fear."

On my journey through the classics of horror, I knew I would need to traverse The Island of Doctor Moreau. Despite getting fairly short, this story is quite the ride. 

We start by knowing how the story ends. While there's potential for that to ruin the story, this story is absolutely not made worse for it. In fact, watching how Prendick gets to the island and simply following the journey was wonderful. I believe that helps offset some of the harder moments in the book. No matter what, the reader always knows there is hope.  

I didn't find Prendick very likeable. He felt quick to judge others--though he is one of the most likeable characters in the book. However, most of his decisions make sense, and there are periods of humor in what could have been a horribly depressing book. 

The body horror in this story had me literally cringing, and I wouldn't say it was a particularly graphic book. It's one of those stories where what is not shown makes it all the worse. 

I think there's more in this story which could have been dug deeper into, but not every horror has to have deep discussions about morality--though that certainly is a topic. I'm also still confused as to why the experiments were happening. Moreau has a long monologue about it and perhaps the length made me glaze over and miss the point, but my understanding leaves me confused and thinking that his goals make no sense with his experiments. 

I listened to the audio book narrated by Jonathan Keeble, and I think he's a great at creating unique voices, but there were times I wasn't sure who was talking and sometimes it was a bit much for me, but given how picky I am with narrators and that I finished this book, I think he was definitely a solid narrator. I wouldn't seek a book out to listen to him specifically, but I would absolutely listen to him narrate a book again.

Overall, this is a great book for those who want to dive into classic horror, but I wouldn't say it's a must read for everyone else. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

lindcherry's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Violence

Moderate: Death and Blood

poirot's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

CW speciesism, CW vivisection

ak97x's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Slavery, and Trafficking

Moderate: Torture and Violence

dustspectre's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Racism

moreau's review against another edition

adventurous reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

my favorite book ever. the language is hilarious, the characters are fucking amazing which is a first for hg wells, hell most of them even have names. he never names his characters or gives them any depth but these characters are actual people. still not fleshed out or anything but theyre there. prendick is boring and an average wells mc, has no opinions on anything. and Montgomery is kind of confusing, if you watch all the movie adaptations of this he's completely different in all of them yet all are somehow accurate to his book counterpart, but moreau is a solid character. hes just chill like that. love the pink sloth. this book completely changed the way i see the world, every biology class i have i mention it, everywhere i go theres a reference to it that goes over most people's heads and I'm like "oohh ohh i know that!!" (totally ruined the mighty boosh and the simpsons for me.) this book basically made me a furry because im so obsessed with if it could actually happen or not. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Torture, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Ableism, Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicide attempt